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Coronavirus pandemic
ChinaScience

WHO approves Sinovac coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, second Chinese treatment to win designation

  • The company joins Sinopharm as a Chinese supplier endorsed by the World Health Organization
  • The move has the potential to help WHO’s dose-strapped Covax vaccine distribution programme

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The CoronaVac vaccine against Covid-19, developed by China's Sinovac Biotech, won emergency use approval by the World Health Organization on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE
Simone McCarthyandZhuang Pinghui
A Covid-19 vaccine by China’s Sinovac Biotech has been approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization, adding a globally recognised vote of confidence to a jab that’s been at the forefront of China’s vaccine exports worldwide.

The WHO announced its decision to clear the CoronaVac vaccine for an emergency-use licence on Tuesday, making it the second vaccine from a Chinese drug maker to receive the listing in less than a month.

The move has the potential to help the dose-strapped Covax vaccine distribution programme, adding the Beijing-based vaccine maker – which claims an annual production capacity of 2 billion doses – to a shortlist of companies eligible to supply the programme, sponsored by the WHO and other global health organisations.

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WHO approves Sinovac Biotech’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use

WHO approves Sinovac Biotech’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use
“The world desperately needs multiple Covid-19 vaccines to address the huge access inequity across the globe,” said Dr Mariângela Simão, WHO assistant director general for access to health products, while announcing the authorisation.

“We urge manufacturers to participate in the Covax Facility, share their know-how and data and contribute to bringing the pandemic under control.”

The decision follows the listing of another vaccine by state-owned Sinopharm, which became the first Covid-19 jab developed by a Chinese company to receive the emergency use approval on May 7.

Other vaccine manufacturers to earn the designation include Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca/University of Oxford, in partnership with vaccine-makers in India and South Korea.

Doses must meet safety and manufacturing standards, and be at least 50 per cent effective at preventing Covid-19.
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